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When I first researched Catherine Despard and found that she was going around London in the early 1800s campaigning, writing, and giving talks I just thought. what a woman.

"When I first researched Catherine Despard online and found that she was going around London in the early 1800s campaigning, writing, and giving talks I just thought. what a woman. She is one of those unheard voices of history. Period drama has traditionally not shown black characters and so it is a real honour to play her and I have felt a responsibility to do a good job. I am proud and feel enormously lucky to have been given this role.

Kitty is a formidable woman, very determined and intelligent. She is strategic and knows how to play the long game. When we meet Kitty she has been in London for a year and her husband, Ned (Vincent Regan), has had his governorship taken away and has been wrongfully imprisoned. Kitty is going all over London campaigning and trying to convince people to help get Ned released. She is having no luck and so as a last result Ned advises her to contact a friend of his from the revolutionary war in America, Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner).

Kitty recognises the name as he is an MP and is well known, but she is also a bit wary of him as she has an inkling of what these two are like together, which is a bit of a nightmare. But they’re out of options, so she gets a carriage down to Cornwall and turns up on the Poldark’s doorstep asking for help. That’s when the mission begins."

Kerri tells us how Kitty and Ned came to meet and what it was like working alongside Vincent Regan.

"Kitty is Jamaican. She went with her mother, who was a slave, to Honduras to work. When Kitty was about 13 her mother begged her current master to sell her and she ended up working as a kitchen maid for Ned, a governor. They were in close quarters and when Ned got ill with a fever Kitty nursed him back to health and they fell for each other, so when Kitty fell pregnant they decided to get married. They have this amazing relationship and they really do love each other, they didn’t marry for convenience or to strengthen a family standing, they married for love and I hope that is very strong when you see us on screen.

I remember the first day I met Vincent, we got in the car on my first day of work and started chatting and we just hit it off from then on. He is such a strong actor that I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to work alongside him. He is also a lovely man and now friend."

New to Cornwall, Kitty is welcomed by some but not by all. Kerri reveals a little about Kitty’s relationships with Poldark’s key characters.

"When Kitty meets Ross there is an immediate understanding that she is Ned’s wife, and so he takes her in without hesitation and they get on right away. Early on Ross and Dwight (Luke Norris) come to see Kitty speak and are impressed. They realise she is not a passive woman, she has been out in London on her own for a year. London was a major city and there were not a lot of black people around, but she very much could stand on her own two feet, and Ross recognises that in her.

When Demelza (Eleanor Tomlinson) first meets Kitty she is a little thrown, but there is a mirroring between the two characters as it is established that they were both maids who fell in love with and married their masters, and for both of these women that now puts them in a very different social class. So there is a natural bond they share with each other.

When Kitty meets Dwight there is a little twinkle in their eyes - she genuinely enjoys his company, she likes his intelligence and his emotional depth. Dwight is rather fascinated with Kitty and the two spend a lot of time together, causing some problems between Dwight and Caroline (Gabriella Wilde).

Within the prison system at this time there is a lot of secret torture taking place and Kitty has been documenting it from day one, she is in with all of the guards and has been taking testimonials on the kinds of things that are happening inside the prison. Dwight decides to join forces with her to fight this and as a result they spend a great deal of time together, much to Caroline’s dismay. When Kitty first meets Caroline she realises that she and Dwight are quite different and that Caroline keeps her emotions close to her chest. However, Caroline is a good person and she really takes to Kitty. After being so appalled with the way the upper classes are treating Kitty when she is around town, Caroline even decided to hold a ball to introduce her into society."

Kerri tells us about her favourite moments from filming.

One of my favourite days of filming was the day we were shooting a scene in the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. Kitty spends most of her time in a dowdy dress as Ned has had his income stopped and we don’t have much money, but for this scene I got to wear a beautiful brown dress that I felt amazing in.

The scene is pretty hardcore, with everyone thinking Kitty is a prostitute and looking down on her, so it was tough to film - but being in that dress made me feel so confident. Although I got a terrible cold from this, another favourite moment from filming was the incredible moment when Kitty comes face to face with someone she has a traumatic history with and we have this incredibly tense stand-off."

Foreword by Debbie Horsfield

"When I first picked up the novel Ross Poldark in 2012 I had no idea that seven years later I’d have adapted seven books and completed five series (43 hours!) of Winston Graham’s extraordinary Poldark saga.

In 2015, with great trepidation, we awaited the response to series one - knowing that the 1970s adaptation had been massively popular, and praying that we’d done justice to these amazing stories, characters and Cornwall. Fortunately the casting - Aidan (Turner), Eleanor (Tomlinson), Jack (Farthing), Heida (Reed), Luke (Norris), Kyle (Soller) and Ruby (Bentall) - found favour with audiences, and to our great delight we were asked for more.

Although none of us ever dared to look more than one series ahead, we found ourselves approaching the end of series four (and book seven, The Angry Tide) with something of a dilemma. Our cast was optioned for five series - so what to do with an 11-year time jump and five more books? We knew we’d never be able to wrap up five books in a single series, but no-one wanted to call time just yet, so we looked at another option.

In book eight (The Stranger From The Sea), 11 years down the line, we meet Ross abroad on a special mission for the government. How did he go from restless, sometimes reckless, and somewhat disillusioned MP, who despaired of ever really 'making a difference' in the world, to Special Agent Poldark, sent by the Crown to report from Portugal on the Peninsula War against Napoleon?

Winston Graham had left plenty of hints in book eight about events which had happened in those intervening years, but he gives little away about how Ross achieved that transformation. So for me it was the starting point, the way to navigate through series five. Winston Graham’s son Andrew endorsed my wish to continue his father’s methodology: looking at the historical context (Napoleonic Wars, Act of Union, fast-approaching Abolition of Slavery) and using real events and real people to drive the narrative.

So what would be our events and who would be our new characters? It seemed to me that one thing we had never met so far was a character to whom Ross really looked up to, even to the extent of hero-worship. So when I was researching the early 1800s I came across Colonel Edward Despard. Reading about him I was so reminded of Ross himself that I felt sure Winston Graham knew of him (though Andrew Graham thinks not).

Ned Despard was a war hero who, like Ross believed in justice, compassion, equality and liberty for all. His wife Catherine was a former slave from Jamaica. And her rise to be his equal, her determination in the face of prejudice and scorn was uncannily reminiscent of Demelza’s own journey. As was the love and devotion both couples felt for each other. I wanted Ned to be part of Ross’ journey towards greater maturity, to be the salutary lesson, his 'there but for the grace of God'.

Tracing Despard and Catherine’s real life story, intertwining it with Ross and Demelza’s and seeing them deal with the consequences of that entanglement, forms the spine of series five and introduces on the way other real-life characters such as James Hadfield (would-be assassin of George III), William Wickham (founder of the British foreign secret service) and Joseph Merceron (the 'Godfather' of East London). Inextricably involved with Ross and Demelza’s journey are Ross’s nemesis George Warleggan, as well as friends and allies Dwight and Caroline Enys, Sam, Drake and Morwenna Carne.

It feels strange, and a little sad, to be approaching the transmission of series five knowing that we won’t be returning to Cornwall, but it’s been an extraordinary journey for all of us and we feel truly fortunate to have lived with these characters and stories for so long. What’s next for me? A contemporary series. Watch this space. Not a tricorn in sight. I’m excited for the next project - but I’ll miss that Cornish surf!"

Character Descriptions

Ross
Ross hoped to put London behind him to focus on peaceful, family life, but a plea from his old Army Colonel, Ned Despard, compels him to the capital to help. As Ross’ world becomes entangled with the Despards', new alliances and old enemies threaten his loved ones and the nation itself, testing our hero’s resolve like never before.

Demelza
As she grows into her role of Cornwall’s beloved defender, Demelza is still looking out for the less fortunate of her world. But when the Despards enter her life, Demelza finds there are repercussions to getting involved: Cornwall needs her own help now more than ever, and new forces threaten all she holds dear.

Drake
Although he has finally married and settled down with Morwenna, Drake yearns to mend the wounds of her past. As the journey to wedded bliss proves uncertain, Drake’s love is tested. How far is he truly willing to go?

Sam
Sam is rising in the community and is admired as a leader. When Tess Tregidden makes it her mission to cause trouble, Sam makes it his to convert her wayward soul. As he helps Demelza in the community, an unexpected romance blossoms for him too.

Morwenna
Though reconciled with Drake in marriage, Morwenna struggles with intimacy, in the wake of her life with her brutish former husband. With the loss of John Conan still haunting her, Morwenna finds her old life overlapping with her new, but as the community come to rely on her she grows into a new role with a hope she had not foreseen.

Geoffrey Charles
Following his mother’s death, Geoffrey takes his future into his own hands and follows in Ross’ footsteps by joining the military. His path takes him to the capital, where an unlikely attraction finds him in the dangerous waters of forbidden love... 

George
Haunted by the loss of Elizabeth, George looks for his missing spark as he forges onward. His journey sees him entering into an alliance with merchant Ralph Hanson, whose business in the mahogany trade and influence in London promises to expand the Warleggan empire around the world.

Dwight
The future holds great promise for Dwight, who has finally gained recognition in his field. However, the arrival of the Despards comes to drive an ever-growing wedge between him and Ross, testing Dwight’s loyalty to his closest friend and the strength of his bond with Caroline.

Caroline
Caroline finds a new distraction in championing the Despards, but old insecurities arise as she joins her friends against their common enemy and finds she must battle with her demons once again.

Prudie
Having settled into her role in the Poldark family, Prudie is trusted to run the home and family in their stead. With new enemies emerging, Prudie‘s role as Nampara’s guardian becomes more important than ever and she must employ all her cunning to help save their world from being upturned.

Ned
An ex-army colonel and Ross and Dwight’s’ ranking officer in American Revolutionary War, Ned was made the governor of British Honduras, where he took a former slave as his wife and tried to implement policies ahead of his time. But when he locked horns with corrupt forces in his posting, Ned was recalled to London and locked away in Coldbath Fields prison, without a fair hearing, leaving him hungry for liberty, vindication and revenge.

Kitty
A former slave, Kitty fell in love with her master, Edward 'Ned' Despard, whom she married. In her fight to exonerate her husband, Kitty finds allies in our heroes and her resilience gains their admiration, as she carves a determined path through the moral corruption that surrounds them.

Tess
A former employee of Trenwith, when Tess suddenly finds herself without the means for an honest life, she harbours revenge against the upper classes. Bitter in her quest for a better life, Tess becomes a persistent thorn in our heroes’ sides, and her machinations threaten the stability of their homes.

Cecily
The daughter of Ralph Hanson, Cecily is a staunch supporter of the abolitionist movement, putting her at odds with her family and peers. Educated and independent, Cecily is ahead of her time. In pursuit of her own brand of happiness Cecily falls in love with a man in league with her father’s rivals, testing family loyalties as she tries to make her future her own.

Ralph Hanson
Father of Cecily and a wealthy mahogany merchant, Ralph Hanson seeks a new backer to fund his enterprise abroad. To this end he enters an alliance with the Warleggans, and crosses swords with our heroes when his dealings come to impact upon their lives.

Joseph Merceron
Joseph is a powerful and enterprising magistrate with connections and influence throughout the social and political tiers of London.

Related Programme Information

• Episode one
• Episode two